Advice for someone without a clue!

C

Chops83

0
Hi,

I'm looking for some advice on weight training. I'm 26 and currently weigh 14 stone. I go to the gym 3 times a week, Monday eve, Thursday eve and Saturday morning. I currently do about 50 mins of cardio. 20 mins on the treadmill doing speed interval, 20 mins on the bike and 10 mins on the cross trainer. The reason I'm posting is that I've heard it would be more beneficial for weightloss for me to be combining weights with my workout and doing less cardio. The trouble is, I have no clue what sort of excercises I should be doing or even if I go to the gym enought to get the most out of weights? I've read that you shouldn't work all of your muscle groups on the same day, but then if I don't, I think I'm leaving too big a gap between working out each group if that makes sense? Sorry this post is so long but I guess my overriding question, should I bother with weights and stick to cardio, or should I start weights and if so what excercises should I be doing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.
 
rule one, everyone is different.

what are your goals, to get stronger/lose weight/gain muscle size/increase aerobic capacity? (those I would think are the main reasons for weight training/doing lots of cardio).

you need to choose a path, because for example, losing weight and gaining lots of muscle can not be done realistically. where as getting stronger and increasing aerobic capacity can easily be done!

you really should have a work out diary, in this you have to put ALL your training info, days you worked out on, how well the work out went, the exercises you did, the intensity, the reps, the weight used etc... if you track your progress you can easily set goals and rectify any hiccups you my have along the way.

you say you're 14 stone, hazarding a guess I'd say you want to lose weight? so if that's your main goal you need to tailor a plan to help you lose weight and build strength (strength building is not essentially the same as size building).

To help lose weight you really need to get your diet in check first and work out how many calories you need to eating (roughly) per day to aid weight loss.

As for routines, as I said everyone is different and will respond differently to a certain workout-depending on your body type, how quick your body adapts to the new stimulus, and how fast you recover!

So you see there's a LOT to it and no one single answer will provide you with ALL the information you require!

You really have two options at the end of the day, either take the time to read up (as many books as you can) to get a better idea of what's required to help you reach your goals along with workoing out and keeping your own track on how things are going, OR if you can afford it get a personal trainer. They may cost a bit but (also do your homework on them first too) but they should help you cut a large corner by evaluating your current status and knowing where you want to get! A good trainer will get you in shape faster than by doing it yourself, if you are clueless.

There are some links below that I give people who ask what you have, they might not suit everyone BUT they do explain well what's required!

body fat explained/ the most important factor!
Understanding Your Body Fat Percentage

weight loss pep talk, also just as important!
Weight Reduction | UM University Health Service

calorie calculator/ how much you need to eat each day
NutritionData BMI & Calories Burned Calculator

diet/ how you should be eating
The healthiest diet on earth: A brand-new food pyramid reveals what to eat to lose weight, increase your energy and lower your cancer and heart-disease risk. Try these six delicious meals - Weight-Loss Special | Shape | Find Articles at BNET
Bodybuilding Nutrition - Sample Bodybuilding Diet

exercises
#1 Exercises Guide! Over 300+ Free Exercise Videos And Guides!
Exercise Encyclopedia » Videos » CoopersGuns Health, Fitness & BodyBuilding

abs/core exercises
6 Pack Abs Exercises - Inverted Exercise Ball Leg Pull Ins
 
1) Yes, you should be doing resistance training. If you don't, you're body will have less insentive to maintain muscle mass. The human body does not ever want to lose weight, even if we do. So when it's in a caloric deficit, the body will get rid of whatever it doesn't need. If you aren't training your muscles to be strong and regularly important for function, then they will be quick to go. Muscle mass is one of the primary bases of your metabolism - lose muscle and your metabolism will be slowed, making it harder to decrease bodyfat.

2) No, you don't need to split up which muscles you train each day. So long as you have at least 2 nights' sleep between sessions, you ought to be training the whole body each strength session.

3) Yes, that's right, I said strength session. You should be training as though strength is imperitive even if you don't care about being strong. Don't be that girl who goes into the gym and for resistance training only ever does triceps kickbacks, and only ever with the 1kg dumbells. The best strength routines use only a few exercises each session while targeting large amounts of muscle mass. Here's an example for you of a simple, appropriate routine, but I urge you not to do any of the exercises without first reading instruction points and seeing how the exercises are performed:

- Full Squat
- Overhead Press (start with an EZ-bar [which looks like a crooked barbell] or small barbell/pumpbar if the empty 20kg barbell is too heavy)
- Cable Row

For every exercise, perform 5 sets of 5 reps, starting with a very light weight (the empty bar on squats and presses). You should have no difficulty moving the weight on the first set, just focus on technique. Ideally, if technique weren't a limiting factor, the weight at first should be so light that you could do 20+reps before your main muscles involved in the exercise get tired. Rest briefly, then on the next set, increase the weight slightly and perform another 5 reps. Continue in this pattern until you have either completed all 5 sets while ramping up the weight, or until you reach a weight where your movement starts to slow down, then continue all remaining sets at that weight. Once you've done all 5 sets, move on to the next exercise and repeat the process.

Next time you train, start at the same light weight, but make sure that the weight on the final set of 5 is slightly higher than the previous session (by 2.5-5kg). Ideally, each exercise should look something like this on paper (though weights will vary based on progression and which exercise you're using):

Set 1: 5 reps at 20kg, rest 30 sec
Set 2: 5 reps at 25kg, rest 60 sec
Set 3: 5 reps at 30kg, rest 90 sec
Set 4: 5 reps at 35kg, rest 180 sec or longer
Set 5: 5 reps at 40kg

Add weight to the exercise only if you complete all reps with good form. Train 3 non-consecutive days per week.

This should give you an idea of what to look for in a resistance training program to help with your weightloss goals.
 
I second Goldfish. I want to just elaborate a bit.

You shouldn't worry about leaving too big a gap between sessions, you should worry about too small a gap. The gap is the part where the muscle grows. You are breaking down your muscle when you train. After that, your body heals your muscles, makes them stronger so they won't get hurt again. You want your body to finish healing before you attack it again.

It's nothing like cardio. Cardio gives you a short, intense, immediate weight loss benefit. Muscles give you a very long, well sustained weight loss benefit. In terms of calorie burning, having a pound of muscle is apparently comparable to running 2 laps every day. I've read that all over but I still wouldn't stake my reputation on that.

I'd stake my reputation on this, though....


Full squats are just the bee's knees. If you do nothing else, do THAT.
 
Thank you all for your advice, you been a massive help.

Thanks again
 
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